Method for Producing Electric Power and Device for Carrying Out Said Method

ABSTRACT

The invention encompasses a method for production of electric power from a system of contacts of nanostructured conductive surfaces with a thin water-containing layer, and a hydroelectric generator for carrying out the method. The basis of the invention is a discovery, confirmed by experiments, that the contacts of the conductive surfaces, having nano-dimensional structural and/or parametrical heterogeneities, with the water-containing layer, having a thickness from several nanometers to a fraction of a millimeter, under certain conditions, described in the present disclosure, generate electromotive force in an external electrical load. The invention utilizes new principles for building power systems, which can find further wide application in various areas of science and technology.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. national phase application of a PCTapplication PCT/RU2007/000015 filed on 17 Jan. 2007, published asWO2007/084027, whose disclosure is incorporated herein in its entiretyby reference, which PCT application claims priority of a Russian patentapplication RU2006/101604 filed on 20 Jan. 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The claimed invention relates to methods and devices for production ofelectric power by using renewable energy sources, and includes a methodfor production of electric power from a system of contacts ofnanostructured conductive surfaces provided with a thin water layer, anda hydroelectric generator capable to serve as an electric power source,built on the basis of the aforesaid system. The claimed inventionutilizes new principles for designing power systems, which can findfurther wide application in various areas of science and technology.

BACKGROUND AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The underlying physical basis of the invention is that a system ofcontacts of predetermined nanostructured conductive surfaces with apredeterminedly thin water-containing layer under certain conditionsbecomes a source of electromotive force (EMF). To create theseconditions, it is necessary, first, that the water-containing layer fromtwo opposite sides be surrounded by layers of conductive material. Inorder to avoid the possibility of change of the chemical composition ofwater, the conductive layers should be produced of material, inert inrelation to water (metals, metalloids, their salts, alloys,semiconductors). Secondly, the surfaces of conductive layers contactingwith the water-contacting layer, should be nanostructured, i.e. shouldhave ‘nano-dimensional’ structural heterogeneities (i.e. structuralheterogeneities with dimensions limited in a predetermined nano-metersrange) in the form of ledges and/or hollows and/or nano-dimensionalparametrical heterogeneities (heterogeneity of conductivity, dielectricpermeability, etc.).

The contact system, comprising the first conductive layer, thewater-containing layer, and the second conductive layer, ischaracterized in that a difference of electric potentials is developedbetween the conductive layers. The development of the potentialdifference is caused by the process of structuring the aquaticenvironment, which is initiated by non-uniform electric field existingnear nano-dimensional structural and/or parametrical irregularities(heterogeneities) of the conductive surfaces, contacting with watermolecules. In general, the number of such conductive layers can bearbitrary, but at least two.

Thus, near the spots of the nanostructured conductive surfacescontacting with a thin water layer, conditions for structuring theaquatic environment are created, which structuring, in turn, leads todividing and carrying over oppositely charged components of the aquaticenvironment onto the opposite conductive surfaces of plates disposed insuch a way that surrounding the water-containing layer.

This effect was first discovered experimentally by the authors of theclaimed invention and can be conditionally designated as‘hydroelectric’. If an electric load is connected to the system ofconductive layers, electric current, will flow in this load and willlead to releasing electric power. Apparently, the electric current willflow until the mentioned dividing and carrying over take place, i.e.until the nano-dimensional structural and/or parametricalheterogeneities of the conductive surfaces exist.

Thus, the system of contacts of the nanostructured conductive surfaceswith a thin water layer with a thickness from a single-digit number ofnanometers and more under the above-described conditions becomes asource of EMF, from which it is possible to produce electric power.

It is ascertained, that an insignificant hydroelectric effect takesplace even in the case when a thin layer of pure water is enclosedbetween surfaces of the conductive layers, which layers don'tpractically include substantially expressed heterogeneities, forexample, due to extremely thorough processing of these surfaces. Thespecified phenomenon is essentially caused by the presence of bothstructural, and parametrical nano-heterogeneities on such surfaces,which promote a weak, vanishingly tiny structuring the thin water layer.

The plates limiting the layer of water can be made not only ofconductive material, but also of dielectric or semiconductor material.In this case, for achievement of the hydroelectric effect, it is enoughif their surfaces, contacting with the water-containing layer (one orboth), have conductive inclusions—parametrical heterogeneities. In turn,the surfaces of the specified conductive inclusions contacting with thewater-containing layer, should be nano-dimensional and/or havenano-dimensional heterogeneities. Additionally, for production ofelectric power, the specified conductive inclusions in each layer shouldhave electric contact with the corresponding contacts to which theelectrical load is connected.

The required structural and/or parametrical heterogeneities have beenproduced by special processing of the surface of the conductive layerscontacting with the water-containing layer, and/or by an artificialcoating, by placing a predetermined material, on the surface of theconductive layers or conductive inclusions. Carbon nano-tubes, diamondpowder, etc. can be utilized as the predetermined material for thecoating on the surfaces of the conductive layers or on the conductiveinclusions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated by the following drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a general view of a water-containing layer limited byplates with non-uniform conductive inclusions on the plates' surfacebeing in contact with the water-containing layer, according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 shows a general view of a usual unscreened water-containing cell(membrane), according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a screened hydroelectric cell (membrane), according to thepresent invention.

Special reference numerals are designated to the following elementsillustrated on FIGS. 1,2,3:

1—electric connections to a common electric bus (electrical load);

2—a first plate;

3—hollows

4—conductive inclusions connectable to the electric bus;

5—a water-containing layer;

6—ledges

7—parametrical heterogeneities;

8—a second plate;

9—a contact plate made of copper foil;

10—a top electrode with micro- and nano-structured non-uniform surface;

11—a bottom electrode made of more uniformed or a similar material;

12—thin insulated copper wires;

13—silver coating;

14—a plate of policore;

15—fiberglass supports;

16—a water layer, or a water-containing layer with different inclusions;

17—a metal case;

18—a metal cover

19—feed-through capacitors;

20—a screen copper tube;

21—inductive chokes made of thin electric cable;

22—a double-wire line.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

While the invention may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms,there are shown in the drawings, and will be described in detail herein,specific embodiments of the present invention, with the understandingthat the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification ofthe principles of the invention, and is not intended to limit theinvention to that as illustrated and described herein.

A general view of several basic elements of the inventive contactsystem, allowing to achieve the hydroelectric effect, is displayed onFIG. 1. The system comprises a cell including the water-containing layer5, which is limited by the plates 2, made of inert in relation to waterconductive material, whose surface contacts with the water-containinglayer 5 and has nano-dimensional structural 3 and 6, and/or parametricalheterogeneities 7. In some embodiments the plates 2 are made ofdielectric or semiconductor, they should contain nano-dimensionalconductive inclusions 4, which should be connected to the correspondingelectric contacts (the common electric bus 1).

During the carrying out of experiments, which have enabled achieving thehydroelectric effect, on certain devices, made according to the presentinvention, the plates 2 surrounding the water containing layer 5 havebeen made of materials, inert in relation to water, e.g. carbon,silicon, glass carbon, vanadium dioxide, gold, chrome, and some othermaterials containing nano-dimensional heterogeneities in the form ofledges 6 or hollows 3, or parametrical heterogeneities 7, on the surfaceof the plates 2, contacting with the water-containing layer 5.

In the majority of the experiments carried out, water bi-distillate witha thickness of about 100 micron was used to form the water containinglayer 5, and the area of contact of the conductive layer with water wasabout 1 cm². In an external electrical load of such cells, electriccurrents have been achieved ranged from single-digits of nano-ampere tosingle-digits of micro-ampere, produced at voltage of about 10-300milli-volt.

It is ascertained, that nano-dimensional heterogeneities in the form ofledges or hollows or parametrical heterogeneities on the conductivesurface of the plates contacting with the water-containing layer, can bemade of a material nonconductive and insoluble in water. In this case,the structuring of the water layer 5 by dielectric nano-dimensionalstructural heterogeneities, leading to the hydroelectric effect, alsotakes place. However, the probability of occurrence of non-uniformedelectric fields in the homogeneous aquatic environment, leading to thestructuring of the water layer, proves to be essentially less, than inthe presence of conductive nano-dimensional structural heterogeneities.Therefore, the intenseness of effect of electric power generation by thewater-containing layer considerably decreases. The examples of suchnonconductive nano-structured and micro-structured heterogeneities, usedin the experiment, were diamond powders, powders of pounded glass,corundum powders, powders of coral calcium “Alka-Main”, which wereuniformly distributed on the surface of one of the layers.

It is experimentally ascertained, that the discovered phenomenon ofgeneration of electric power takes place in cases when the layer ofwater contains chemical and/or mechanical impurities, includingwater-soluble salts. The effect does not qualitatively change atconcentrations of impurities up to 1%.

It is also experimentally ascertained, that the amounts of produced EMFand internal resistance of the water layer depend on the material ofwhich the plates contacting with water are made, and also on thecharacter of heterogeneities, taking place on their surfaces, and candiffer by a magnitude of two-four orders.

It is also ascertained, that with an increase of the thickness of thewater layer, which is in contact with the same materials, from severalnanometers to 50 microns (i.e. a fraction of a millimeter), the voltage(the amount of produced EMF) and the electric current decrease.

During the carrying out of researches, a hundred-percent repeatabilityof the experimental results was observed at preservation of theconditions of experiments.

Temperature limits for existence of the effect are determined by theconditions for existence of the liquid phase of water.

There have been developed and tested embodiments of the inventivedevices each representing a source of electric power, comprising a layerof pure water, enclosed between the plates made of conductive and inertin relation to water materials, including nano-dimensionalheterogeneities on their surface contacting with the layer of water. Atan output voltage from 7-15 mV up to 500 mV, they have provided anelectric current from 5-10 nA up to 6000 nA in the electric load. Thegiven results are obtained in the temperature range of 12-30° C. in thelayers of bi-distilled water with a thickness not more than 100-300microns, and having an area of the working surface from 1 to 2 cm². Inthe experiments, the following insoluble in water materials have beenused: polished mono-crystal silicon, mono-crystal silicon withmicro-rough surface, mono-crystal porous silicon with nano-pores,polished glass carbon and glass carbon with micro-heterogeneities,carbon nano-tubes, and dioxide vanadium nano-structures.

A usual (unscreened) water-containing membrane (cell) is presented onFIG. 2. The bottom electrode 11 of the membrane is connected to anexternal electric circuit through a piece of copper wire 12 made ofEMRW-0.05 (enameled moisture-resistant wire), whose ends are soldered ontinned patches. The top electrode 10, limiting the water-containinglayer 16, is designed as a thin electro-conductive plate made ofmaterial with nano-heterogeneities. The top electrode 10 is separatedfrom the bottom electrode 11 by the support 15 made of fiberglassthread. The top electrode 10 contacts with the plate 9 of copper foilhaving an electric connection of the diffusing-compressive type with thepiece of copper wire 12 EMRW-0.05, through which it is connected to theexternal electric circuit. The bottom electrode 11 is connected to theexternal circuit in a similar way.

A screened hydroelectric cell (membrane), illustrated on FIG. 3,comprises the metal case 17, made in the form of a whole-metal hermeticcontainer of a cylindrical shape soldered for the period of carrying outof the experiment with the metal cover 18 made of sheet brass with athickness of 0.3 mm, and has a piece of thin copper tube 20 (with aninternal diameter of 3.0 mm), through which copper tube the double-wireline 22 is passed, intended for connection to a measuring installation.

For measurement of currents and voltage of small quantities of nano- andmicro-orders, a high degree of noise immunity (i.e. interferenceprotection) is required, and that has necessitated application ofwhole-metal screen constructions in the experiment As illustrated onFIG. 3, there is disposed the water-containing membrane (shown in detailon FIG. 2), which is fixed on the surface of the plate 14 made of soliddielectric, for example policore, with metalized (i.e. covered by ametal coating 13, shown on FIGS. 2 and 3) top and bottom surfaces,electrically connected to each other and to the whole-metal case 17 ofthe cell. The contact of the top electrode plate 10 of the membrane withthe plate 9 of copper foil, laying on it, is galvanic. In turn thesurface of the bottom electrode plate 11 of the membrane is fixed on thetop surface of the metalized policore plate 14. The membrane isconnected to the input of the screened double-wire line 22 through thechokes 21 and the feed-through capacitors 19, forming a filter of lowfrequency. The bottom 11 and top 10 flat electrodes of the membranecontacting with water, had a deviation from parallelism regarding eachother, not exceeding 0.1-0.3 microns on 2 cm². The distance between theelectrodes 10 and 11 was maintained by means of the fiber glass threadsupport 15 of a predetermined calibrated diameter (FIG. 3).

The screened hydroelectric cell (illustrated on FIG. 3) operates as anelectric generator in the following way. The water-containing membraneshown on FIG. 2, located inside the whole-metal case 17 of the screenedwater electric cell (FIG. 3) generates voltage, which voltage, throughthe chokes 21 and the feed-through capacitors 19, is applied to theinput of the double-wire screened line 22. If an electric load isconnected to the exit of the line 22, then electric current will startflowing through the line.

The experiments showed that the electric parameters of the screenedhydroelectric cells remain practically invariable for a long time (up totens of hours). Changes in electric parameters of the cells beganpractically at evaporation of the appreciable quantity of water from thewater containing membrane. The authors did not take any specialconstructive measures for hermetatizatioin of the cells to prevent theevaporation of water from them during operation. There exist well-knowntechnologies that allow making hermetic devices, which enclosewater-containing layers, similar to the above described. Suchtechnologies exclude evaporation and leak of water therefrom. However,hermetization is not a subject of the present invention.

The cell operates as a generator of electricity in the following way.The hydro-containing cell generates voltage, which through the chokesand the feed-through capacitors is applied to the input of thedouble-wire screened line 22. If the electric load is connected to theline's exit, then the electric current will start flowing through it.Several hydro-containing cells can be connected to each other inparallel or in series, thereby joined in one electric circuit. In thefirst case it leads to an increase of the operating current, in thesecond case, it leads to an increase of the operating voltage.

For manufacturing of boundary electrodes of the hydro-containingmembranes, the following materials were used:

-   the plates of mono-crystal silicon with intrinsic conductivity and    degree of purity of 999, 999999% with the surface, polished by the    14th class;-   the plates of silicon covered with carbon nano-tubes with a diameter    from 30 to 250 angstrom, grown up in the form of thin films with a    thickness of 0.1-0.2 micron;-   the plates of nano-porous silicon of the same degree of purity of    n-type and p-type;-   the polished plates of glass carbon;-   the plates of glass carbon with nano-dimensional heterogeneities of    the surface;-   the plates of glass carbon with nano-pointed heterogeneities,    covered with the thin film of carbon nano-tubes;-   the plates of silicon covered with the thin film of dioxide vanadium    nano-structures with the sizes of nano-grains of 100-120 nanometers    in height and 80-100 nanometers in width, located closely to each    other on the substrate surface;-   the polished chrome plates; the nano-rough chrome plates;-   the polished and nano-rough gold plates; the polished and nano-rough    tantalum plates.

For preparation of the hydro-containing cells the following materialswere used: water bi-distillate; diamond powders No5, No14, No28;corundum powders No10, No28, No40; powder of coral calcium Alka-Main ofthe natural origin; powder of coral calcium Alka-Main of the artificialorigin; glass dust (pounded glass with the sizes of particles of 5-10microns).

The results of the experiments have shown, that introduction of solubleimpurities (acids, spirits, physiologic saline) in pure water even inextremely small concentration (not exceeding 1%), yet not causing anoticeable increase in conductivity of water (less than 10%) and notcausing an occurrence of concentration cells, leads to an increase ofthe hydroelectric effect by several times.

It should be emphasized, that with the purpose of providing the waterlayers purity, reproducibility of the results of the experiment andincreasing the measurements accuracy in all carried out experiments,completely monolithic conductive layers were used for producing theplates enclosing the thin water-containing layer. And only such layers,whose surfaces were contacting with the water layer, had, in turn,nano-dimensional structural or parametrical heterogeneities. It isespecially important that in this case any difficult-to-accomplishintegration of conductive inclusions on the surface of the layers,enclosing the water-containing layer therebetween, into a commonelectric bus is unnecessary, since the use of the monolithic conductivelayer automatically solves this problem, providing the requirednano-dimensional structural or parametrical heterogeneities.

Results of the experimental researches of the sources of electricitybased on the system of contacts of nanostructured conductive surfaceswith a thin water layer.

The results of the experiments are given in tables 1-7 below.

-   -   In the tables, S is the plate's area. In the tables' column        “Time” the last figure corresponds to the termination of changes        of the current and voltage.

TABLE 1 Operating currents and voltage of the screened cells of thewater-containing membranes with electrodes of mono-crystal polishedsilicon and nano-porous silicon. Filler. Layer's Bottom thickness, Time,U_(output,) I_(output,) No electrode Top electrode h, micron s mV nA 1Mono-crystal Nano-porous Water 2 70 135 polished silicon silicon, h =200 5 50 94 S = 18 cm². S = 2 cm². 15 40 66 Sample No 7, Sample No 1, 3535 44 fragment-1 120 30 32 600 30 30 2 Mono-crystal Mono-crystal Water 23 1 polished silicon polished silicon h = 150 5 0 0 S = 18 cm². S = 4cm². 15 0 0 Sample No 7, Sample No 7, 35 0 0 fragment-1. fragment-2. 7000 0

TABLE 2 Operating currents and voltage of the screened cells of thewater containing membranes with electrodes of mono-crystal polishedsilicon covered with a thin film of carbon nano-tubes. Filler. Layer'sthickness, U_(output,) I_(output,) No Bottom electrode Top electrode h,micron Time, s mV nA 3 Mono-crystal Silicon with carbon Water 2 54 320polished silicon nano-tube operating h = 300 5 48 250 S = 18 cm².surface 10 44 200 Sample No 7, S = 1 cm². 20 40 187 fragment-1. SampleNo 1 (1014) 900 30 150 1800 23 100 4 Mono-crystal Silicon with carbonWater 2 45 420 polished silicon nano-tube operating h = 300 5 40 380 S =18 cm². surface 10 37 350 Sample No 7, S = 1 cm². 20 33 337 fragment-1.Sample No 2 (10330) 900 25 308 1800 20 300 3600 20 300 5 Mono-crystalSilicon with carbon Water 2 60 310 polished silicon nano-tube operatingh = 350 5 50 300 S = 18 cm². surface 10 41 289 Sample No 7, S = 1 cm².20 35 277 fragment-1. Sample No 3 (10224). 900 22 238 2700 20 250 540020 250 6 Mono-crystal Silicon with carbon Water 2 60 490 polishedsilicon nano-tube operating h = 300 5 47 430 S = 18 cm². surface 10 36355 Sample No 7, S = 0.5 cm². 20 25 300 fragment-1. Sample No 4 (10125).900 16 238 2700 10 120 5400 10 120

TABLE 3 Operating currents and voltage of the screened cells of thewater-containing membranes with electrodes of polished glass carbonGC-2000, glass carbon with the micro-non-uniform surface and glasscarbon, covered with a thin film of carbon nano-tubes, nano-poroussilicon and mono-crystal silicon covered with a thin film of dioxidevanadium nano-structures. Filler. Layer's thickness, U_(output,)I_(output,) No Bottom electrode Top electrode h, micron Time, s mV nA 7Polished glass Silicon EKSE 0.1 nano- Water 2 43 400 carbon porous, h =300 5 35 320 GC-2000, S = 2.5 cm². 10 30 300 S = 20 cm². Sample No 2. 2026 250 Sample No 1, 900 20 160 fragment-1. 1800 15 90 3600 15 89 8Polished glass Glass carbon with the Water 2 74 2700 carbonmicro-pointed structure of h = 150 5 65 1900 GC-2000, the operatingsurface, 10 60 1800 S = 20 cm². covered with the nano- 20 56 1500 SampleNo 1, tube carbon film, 900 50 1000 fragment-1 . . . S = 4 cm².Nano-tube 1800 45 500 diameter 20-50 Å. 3600 40 500 Thickness of thecarbon film 0.1 micron. Nano-tube height 100-200 Å. Sample No 3 9Polished glass Glass carbon with Water 2 124 1100 carbonmicro-heterogeneities of h = 150 5 110 850 GC-2000, the order of 10 100750 S = 20 cm². 1-5 micron. S = 5 cm². 20 86 640 Sample No 1, Sample No2, 900 80 600 fragment-1 . . . fragment-1. 1800 75 400 3600 70 370 10Polished glass Polished mono-crystal Water 2 63 1300 carbon silicon withthe operating h = 100 5 60 1220 GC-2000, surface of the dioxide 10 551100 S = 20 cm². vanadium film (the film 20 50 1000 Sample No 1,thickness of 900 48 1000 fragment-1 . . . VO₂ —100 nm), 1800 43 1000 S =2 cm². 3600 43 1000 Sample No 1 11 Polished glass Polished mono-crystalWater 2 77 1900 carbon silicon with the operating h = 100 5 70 1700GC-2000, surface of the dioxide 10 65 1600 S = 20 cm². vanadium film(the film 20 60 1500 Sample No 1, thickness of 900 52 1500 fragment-1 .. . VO₂ —100 nm), 1800 52 1500 S = 2 cm². Sample No 2

TABLE 4 Operating currents and voltage of the screened cells of thewater containing membranes with electrodes, micro-heterogeneities onwhich surface consist of dielectrics. Filler. Layer's thickness,U_(output,) I_(output,) No Bottom electrode Top electrode h, micronTime, s mV nA 12 Mono-crystal Mono-crystal Water 2 6 3 polished siliconpolished silicon h = 300 5 5 3 S = 18 cm². S = 2 cm². 10 4 2 Sample No4, Sample No 4, 20 2 2 fragment-1. fragment-2. 900 1 1 1800 1 1 13Mono-crystal Mono-crystal Water 2 11 10 polished silicon polishedsilicon h = 300 5 9 8 S = 18 cm². S = 2 cm². 10 8 7 Sample No 4, SampleNo 4, 20 6 6 fragment-1. fragment-2. 900 5 4 Operating surface is 1800 54 covered with the thin powder layer (sample No80) of coral calciumAlka-Main. 14 Mono-crystal Mono-crystal Water 2 9 9 polished siliconpolished silicon h = 300 5 7 8 S = 18 cm². S = 2 cm². 10 6 7 Sample No4, Sample No 4, 20 4 6 fragment-1. fragment-2. 900 3 4 Operating surfaceis 1800 3 4 covered with the thin layer of powder No 5 of pounded glasswith the grain size of 5 micron. 15 Mono-crystal Mono-crystal Water 10 916 polished silicon polished silicon h = 300 20 8 12 S = 18 cm². S = 2cm². 900 6 8 Sample No 4, Sample No 4, 1800 4 5 fragment-1. fragment-2.3600 4 5 On the operating 4800 4 5 surface of 4 cm² 4 mm³ of diamondpowder No 5 are evenly distributed in a thin layer. 16 Mono-crystalMono-crystal Water 10 6 5 polished silicon polished silicon h = 300 30 32 S = 18 cm². S = 2 cm². 900 2 1 Sample No 2, Sample No 2, 2700 1 1fragment-1. fragment-2. 17 Mono-crystal Mono-crystal Water 10 8 15polished silicon polished silicon h = 200 30 6 11 S = 18 cm². S = 2 cm².900 4 5 Sample No 4, Sample No 4, 2700 3 3 fragment-1. fragment-2. 45003 3 On the operating surface of 4 cm² 1 mm³ of diamond powder No 28 isevenly distributed in a thin layer. 18 Mono-crystal Mono-crystal Water10 12 20 polished silicon polished silicon h = 300 30 9 14 S = 18 cm². S= 2 cm². 900 7 7 Sample No 2, Sample No 2, 1800 4 6 fragment-1.fragment-2. 2400 4 6 On the operating 4800 4 6 surface of 4 cm² 2 mm³ ofdiamond powder No 5 are evenly distributed in a thin layer. 19Mono-crystal Mono-crystal Water 10 39 60 polished silicon polishedsilicon h = 300 30 31 54 S = 18 cm². S = 2 cm². 900 12 11 Sample No 4,Sample No 4, 2700 8 6 fragment-1. fragment-2. 5100 5 5 On the part ofthe 8100 4 5 operating surface of 4 cm² 2 mm³ of corundum powder No 10are evenly distributed in a thin layer. 20 Mono-crystal Mono-crystalWater 10 48 20 polished silicon polished silicon h = 300 30 33 18 S = 18cm². S = 2 cm². 900 17 8 Sample No 4, Sample No 4, 2700 12 5 fragment-1.fragment-2. 5100 10 5 On the part of the 8100 10 5 operating surface of4 cm² 4 mm³ of corundum powder No 28 are evenly distributed in a thinlayer. 21 Mono-crystal Mono-crystal Water 10 50 35 polished siliconpolished silicon h = 300 30 35 32 S = 18 cm². S = 2 cm². 900 19 18Sample No 4, Sample No 4, 2700 13 20 fragment-1. fragment-2. 5700 12 20On the part of the operating surface of 4 cm² 4 mm³ of corundum powderNo 40 are evenly distributed in a thin layer. 22 Mono-crystalMono-crystal Water 10 6 9 polished silicon polished silicon h = 300 30 48 S = 18 cm². S = 2 cm². 900 3 3 Sample No 8, Sample No 8, 2700 2 2fragment-1. fragment-2. 5700 1 1 Note: Powder number means the size ofgrains of powder in microns. Note to table 4. After removal of a thinlayer of powder solid insoluble in water dielectric from the bottomelectrode (the top and bottom electrodes are made of the same workpieceof polished silicon) and at preservation of the experiment's conditionscurrent and voltage developed by the water membrane in loading becomeclose to zero (Ioutput ≈1 nA Uoutput ≈1 mV).

TABLE 5 Dependence of internal resistance, operating currents andvoltage of the screened water- containing membranes on the material ofthe layers limiting the membrane. Filler. Layer's thickness, U_(output,)I_(output,) No Bottom electrode Top electrode h, micron Time, s mV nA 23Polished tantalum Polished mono- Water 10 142 700 S = 20 cm². crystalsilicon, S = 2.5 cm². h = 150 30 122 430 Sample No 1, Sample No 5,Ambient 900 97 370 fragment-1. fragment-1. temperature 2700 72 150Internal resistance of t = 15° C. 5700 70 130 the water membrane R^(s)_(in) = 416 kOhm · cm² R_(in) = 250 kOhm 24 Polished plate of Polishedplate of Water 10 92 205 chrome 999.9, chrome 999.9, h = 100 30 85 150 S= 18 cm². S = 3 cm². Ambient 900 77 60 Sample No 1, Sample No 1,temperature 2700 78 60 fragment-1. fragment-2. t = 15° C. 5700 74 60Internal resistance of R^(s) _(in) = 6300 kOhm · cm² the water membraneR_(in) = 2.1 MOhm 25 Polished plate of Rough plate of Water 10 100 350chrome, chrome 999.9, with h = 100 30 105 300 S = 18 cm². the grain sizeof Ambient 900 110 180 Sample No 1, 3-5 micron, S = 3 cm². temperature2700 98 100 fragment-1. Sample No 2. t = 15° C. 5700 94 70 Internalresistance of R^(s) _(in = 5700 kOhm · cm) ² the water membrane R_(in) =1.9 MOhm 26 Polished plate of Rough plate of gold Water 10 64 400 gold99.9999, 99.9999, with the h = 150 30 56 300 S = 12 cm². grain size ofAmbient 900 52 200 Sample No 1. 5-7 micron, S = 3 cm². temperature 270048 150 Sample No 2. t = 15° C. 5700 44 150 Internal resistance of R^(s)_(in) = 4.8 kOhm · cm² the water membrane R_(in) = 2.4 kOhm Note:Internal resistance Rs in. [kOhm · cm²] is reduced to thickness of thewater layer of 100 micron for the stable regime.

TABLE 6 Dependence of internal resistance, currents and voltage of thescreened water containing membranes on time and the material ofelectrodes at the same degree of heterogeneity of the surface of thebottom and top electrodes. Filler. Layer's thickness, U_(output,)I_(output,) No Bottom electrode Top electrode h, micron Time, s mV nA 27Polished mono-crystal Polished mono-crystal Water 10 300 4000 siliconwith the operating silicon with the h = 200 30 220 3100 surface of thedioxide operating surface of the Ambient 900 154 1200 vanadium film(layer's dioxide vanadium film temperature 2700 93 970 thickness VO₂ 100nm), (layer's thickness VO₂ t = 18° C. 5700 37 300 S = 1 cm². Sample No1, 100 nm), Internal resistance 6600 37 280 fragment-1. S = 1 cm².Sample No 1, R_(in) = 55 kOhm. fragment-2. 28 Polished mono-crystalPolished mono-crystal Water 10 260 3500 silicon with the operatingsilicon with the h = 200 30 200 2400 surface of the dioxide operatingsurface of the Ambient 900 112 1000 vanadium film (layer's dioxidevanadium film temperature 2700 63 820 thickness VO₂ 100 nm), (layer'sthickness VO₂ t = 18° C. 5700 30 250 S = 1 cm². Sample No 2, 100 nm),Internal resistance 6600 29 235 fragment-1. S = 1 cm². Sample No 2,R_(in) = 65 kOhm. fragment-2. 29 Polished glass carbon Glass carbon withWater 10 480 2700 GC-2000, micro heterogeneities h = 200 30 310 2050 S =20 cm². of the order of 1-5 Ambient 900 200 1550 Sample No 1, micron.temperature 2700 180 1340 fragment-1. S = 2.5 cm². t = 18° C. 5700 1601000 Sample No 2, Internal resistance 6600 157 990 fragment-2. R_(in) =125 kOhm 30 Glass carbon with micro Glass carbon with Water 10 560 17000heterogeneities of the micro heterogeneities h = 200 30 500 15000 orderof 1-5 micron. of the order of 1-5 Ambient 900 460 12050 S = 5 cm².micron. temperature 2700 400 9040 Sample No 2, S = 1 cm². t = 18° C.5700 350 6000 fragment-1. Sample No 2, Internal resistance 6600 350 6000fragment-2. R_(in) = 30 kOhm Note: Internal resistance Rin. [kOhm] forthickness of the water layer of 200 micron in the stable regime.

TABLE 7 Dependence of internal resistance, currents and voltage of thescreened water-containing membranes on time. Filler. Layer's R^(s)_(in.), thickness, kOhm · U_(output,) I_(output,) No Bottom electrodeTop electrode h, micron cm² Time, s mV nA 31 Polished mono- Polishedmono- Water 2200 10 3 1 crystal silicon, crystal silicon, h = 300 300020 1 0 S = 18 cm². S = 4 CM². 3500 900 0 0 Sample No 7, Sample No 7,4300 1800 0 0 fragment-1. fragment-2. 5100 3600 0 0 32 Polished mono-Nano-porous Water 400 2 70 195 crystal silicon, silicon h = 300 520 5 50134 S = 18 cm². S = 2 CM². 647 10 40 106 Sample No 7, Sample No 1. 78820 35 84 fragment-1. 1686 900 30 62 1800 1800 30 61 33 Polished mono-Silicon with the Water 100 2 54 320 crystal silicon, carbon nano-tube h= 300 145 5 48 250 S = 18 cm². operating surface 187 10 44 200 Sample No7, S = 1 cm². 237 20 40 187 fragment-1 Sample No 1 289 900 30 150(1014). 300 1800 23 100 300 3600 23 25 34 Polished mono- Silicon withthe Water 100 2 60 490 crystal silicon, carbon nano-tube h = 300 140 547 430 S = 18 cm². operating surface 180 10 36 355 Sample No 7, S = 0.5cm². 200 20 25 300 fragment-1. Sample No 4 250 900 16 238 (10125). 2502700 10 120 250 5400 10 120 35 Polished glass carbon Nano-porous Water100 2 43 400 GC-2000, silicon h = 300 123 5 35 320 S = 20 cm². EKSE 0.1,149 10 30 300 Sample No 1, S = 2.5 cm² 210 20 26 250 fragment-1. SampleNo 4. 218 900 20 160 246 1800 15 90 250 3600 15 89 36 Polished glasscarbon Polished mono- Water 10 2 63 1500 GC-2000, crystal silicon h =300 12 5 60 1220 S = 20 cm². with the 15 10 55 1100 Sample No 1,operating surface 22 20 50 1000 fragment-1. of the dioxide 38 900 481000 vanadium film 49 1800 43 1000 (layer's thickness 50 3600 43 1000VO₂ 100 nm), S = 2 cm². Sample No 1 37 Polished glass carbon Glasscarbon Water 3 2 74 2700 GC-2000, with the micro- h = 300 9 5 65 1900 S= 20 cm². pointed structure 42 10 60 1800 Sample No 1, of the operating75 20 56 1500 fragment-1. surface, covered 81 900 50 1000 with the nano-87 1800 45 500 tube carbon film, 90 3600 40 500 S = 4 cm². Nano- tubediameter 20-50 Å. Thickness of the carbon film 0.1 micron. Nano-tubeheight 100-200 Å. Sample No 3. 38 Polished glass carbon Glass carbonWater 3 2 124 1100 GC-2000, with micro h = 300 12 5 110 850 S = 20 cm².heterogeneities 56 10 100 750 Sample No 1, of the order of 72 20 86 640fragment-1. 1-5 micron. 108 900 80 600 S = 4 cm². 117 1800 75 400 SampleNo 2, 120 3600 70 370 fragment-1. Note: Internal resistance Rs in. [kOhm· cm²] is reduced to thickness of the water layer - 300 micron and areaof 1 cm².

1. A method for producing electric power comprising the steps of:providing at least two conductive layers capable of conducting electriccurrent, produced of material inert in relation to water, said layersincluding structural nano-dimensional heterogeneities with dimensionslimited in a predetermined nano-meter range, said conductive layersconnected substantially to an external electric load; providing apredetermined water-containing layer disposed between said conductivelayers, so that said conductive layers surrounding and being in contactwith said water-containing layer; and releasing electric power in saidexternal electric load.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein saidnano-dimensional heterogeneities being provided in the form of ledgesand/or hollows and/or nano-dimensional parametrical heterogeneities. 3.The method according to claim 1, wherein the material of said conductivelayers being provided in the form of dielectric or semiconductor withconductive inclusions, and the inclusions are connected to one commonelectric bus substantially connected to said external electric load. 4.The method according to claim 1, wherein said water-containing layerincluding chemical and/or mechanical impurities at a concentration ofnot more than 1%.
 5. A source of electric power comprising at least oneisolated cell or membrane, said cell including: at least two conductivelayers capable of conducting electric current, produced of material,inert in relation to water, said layers including structuralnano-dimensional heterogeneities with dimensions limited in apredetermined nano-meter range, said conductive layers connectedsubstantially to an external electric load; and at least onewater-containing layer having a thickness in a predetermined range, saidwater-containing layer being disposed between said conductive layers, sothat said conductive layers surrounding and being in contact with saidwater-containing layer.
 6. The source of electric power according toclaim 5, wherein said nano-dimensional heterogeneities being provided inthe form of ledges and/or hollows and/or nano-dimensional parametricalheterogeneities.
 7. The source of electric power according to claim 5,wherein the material of said conductive layers being provided in theform of dielectric or semiconductor with conductive inclusions, and theinclusions are connected to one common electric bus substantiallyconnected to said external electric load.
 8. The source of electricpower according to claim 5, wherein said source comprising at least twoisolated cells connected in series or in parallel to each other, therebyjoined in one electric circuit.
 9. (canceled)
 10. The source of electricpower according to claim 5, wherein said water-containing layerincluding chemical and/or mechanical impurities at concentrations of notmore than 1%.
 11. The source of electric power according to claim 5,wherein said at least two conductive layers including three conductivelayers made of an insoluble in water material; and said at least onewater-containing layer including two water-containing layers disposedrespectively between said three conductive layers.
 12. The methodaccording to claim 2, wherein the material of said conductive layersbeing provided in, the form of dielectric or semiconductor withconductive inclusions, and the inclusions are connected to one commonelectric bus substantially connected to said external electric load. 13.The source of electric power according to claim 5, wherein saidpredetermined range of thickness constituting a single-digit number ofnanometers.
 14. The source of electric power according to claim 6,wherein the material of said conductive layers being provided in theform of dielectric or semiconductor with conductive inclusions, and theinclusions are connected to one common electric bus substantiallyconnected to said external electric load.
 15. The source of electricpower according to claim 6, wherein said source comprising at least twoisolated cells connected in series or in parallel to each other, therebyjoined in one electric circuit.
 16. The source of electric poweraccording to claim 6, wherein said water-containing layer includingchemical and/or mechanical impurities at concentrations of not more than1%.
 17. The source of electric power according to claim 7, wherein saidwater-containing layer including chemical and/or mechanical impuritiesat concentrations of not more than 1%.
 18. The source of electric poweraccording to claim 8, wherein said water-containing layer includingchemical and/or mechanical impurities at concentrations of not more than1%.